Injured Rianne Malixi withdraws from Augusta National Women’s Amateur

A BACK INJURY brought an abrupt end to Rianne Malaxi’s quest for glory at the prestigious Augusta National Women’s Amateur.

Ms. Malixi, the double USGA amateur champion, navigated four holes in Wednesday’s practice round at the Champions Retreat Golf Club when she felt a discomfort in her lower back.

This was the same issue that previously forced her to pull out of the Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific Championship in Vietnam late last year.

The reigning US Women’s Amateur and US Girls’ Junior champion informed the Golf Channel that she felt “it was best to withdraw this week and fully recover rather than risk further injury.”

The world No. 4 amateur freshman hopes to be good to swing back to action by the time the US Women’s Open fires off on May 26.

Ms. Malixi, an incoming freshman at Duke University, was supposed to start her Augusta campaign Thursday (Manila time) in Group 4 alongside Meghan Ganne of the US and Spain’s Cayetana Fernandez Garcia-Poggio at Champions Retreat.

This week should have been her redemption tour in the prestigious 54-hole tournament after a missed-cut stint on debut last year dashed her dream of playing at the legendary Augusta National course for the final round. — Olmin Leyba